This application claims the priority of German Patent Application Serial No. 199 15 897 5-26, filed Apr. 8, 1999, the subject matter of which is incorporated herein by reference.
The present invention relates to a process for marking a textile product.
Typically, raw, semi-finished and finished textile products, e.g. yarns, fabrics and garments, are provided with labels or the like for marking the quality of the product and/or for reference to the manufacturer. However, once these identifications are removed, the manufacturer of the original product can no longer be identified or only at great difficulty. Imitations, oftentimes of low-grade quality, are thus possible without much risk, so that the manufacturers of the original goods, the following production stages or marketing stages, and possibly even the end consumer incur significant economical losses, let alone ensuing complaints and damage to the reputation.
German Pat. No. DE-PS 501 177 describes a process for marking a textile product to enable the manufacturer to ascertain whether a particular product originated from its production. This publication lists as suitable substances for marking purposes of a textile product, in particular salts, oxides or hydroxides of metal or metalloid. Detection of the substance requires the use of a sample of the textile product for subsequent incineration and testing for presence of the substance through chemical, spectroscopic or other analytical methods.
This type of marking process has been essentially ignored in commerce, because the detection for presence or absence of the marking substance is cumbersome, time-consuming, and requires complex equipment and experts to carry out the inspection.
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide an improved process for marking textile products, obviating the afore-stated drawbacks.
In particular, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved process for marking textile products, which allows even a layman to check the presence or absence of a marking substance, without damage to the textile product, in a most simple and shortest possible manner.
These objects, and others which will become apparent hereinafter, are attained in accordance with the present invention by using a substance for marking the textile product, which substance is suitable for extraction from the textile product and detection through application of an absorbent probe.
There are many examples for such substances that are known to the person skilled in the art and can be used in the process according to the present invention, so long as the substances are toxicologically safe and do not adversely affect the quality of the textile product, on the one hand, and are detectable by simple conventional methods, on the other hand.
The process according to the present invention provides for the first time an option, even for an unskilled worker of the manufacturer or for a customs officer, to test the authenticity of textile products and thus to verify a match between the manufacturer designated for the textile product at hand and the actual manufacturer.
Suitably, the substance is of a nature that allows its detection through a color reaction.
According to another feature of the present invention, the probe may be wetted with an appropriate detection liquid before extraction of the indicator substance, to thereby yield immediately a positive or negative result. If there is, however, a risk that the reaction liquid may adversely affect the quality of the textile product (e.g. discolor the textile product), the probe may be wetted with a neutral liquid before extraction of the substance, and subsequently, i.e. after extraction, subjected to a reaction for detection. Another alternative includes the extraction of the substance by means of the probe through dry abrasion and subsequent subjection to a reaction for detection.
The probe may be configured as a swab, i.e. a wad of absorbent material (e.g. cotton) wound around one end of a small stick. Before extraction of the substance, the swab may be dipped in the neutral liquid or in the reactant liquid. Through rubbing and/or diffusion, the substance incorporated in the textile product enters the reaction liquid and generates a typical detection reaction.
Examples of substances include in particular:
inorganic acids and lyes, and salts thereof,
organic acids and salts thereof (e.g. ascorbic acid, fatty acids and derivates thereof),
metals, non-metals, and compounds thereof,
proteins, peptides, and derivates thereof,
fats, soaps, and derivates thereof,
indicators, e.g. phenolphtalein, thymolphtalein etc.,
sugar and polysaccharides, starch, cellulose, and derivates thereof,
reducing and oxidizing substances.